MAYBE he knew something we didn't, but Roland Gift was convinced he'd be back at the Forum. "This is my first time in Billingham," he said. "And the last", came the tongue-in-cheek reply from the seats.

He disagreed, of course. As for the audience, whether they were passing comment on Billingham's grey concrete surrounds or the fact that the Forum is due to close was unclear.

With Gift rattling through a mixture of FYC classics and newer songs, this was certainly value for money for a remarkably mixed crowd, which ranged in age from about 30 to somewhere near 70.

Although he's older and is no longer touring with the original Cannibals - including the spaghetti-legged guitarist - the soulful voice is still there with its wonderfully distinctive richness.

Gift's natural charisma also shines through on stage and he clearly looked as though he was enjoying himself.

Part way through the set, the more enthusiastic female members of the audience were busily imploring him to shed some clothes, although he refused to do so.

A brief encore at the end included a rousing version of Elvis's Suspicious Minds, which seemed a good way to round things off.

Filtering out afterwards, one theatregoer was heard to say that it was better than Tony Hadley, presumably referring to the Spandau Ballet lead singer. Plenty there would have given him that.

Published: 18/06/2004